In the books and stories I’ve read by Laura Lee Guhrke, she has a way and writer’s way of re-building a relationship, such that it’s like the people involved or say the lead couple are discovering things about the other they didn’t know, or eyes were not open to before. In the Abandoned at the Altar series, that is one of the true premises along with second chances and other chance at love.

In Wedding of the Season we meet Aidan Carr, the Duke of Trathen the straight lace very honorable duke, looking to marry and carrying on his duty to his title and Julia Hammett and then Lady Yardley a free spirit with many shadows haunting her, now a year later divorced from her cruel husband with the unlikely help from Aidan whom she got roaring drunk (cheap drunk) and seduced him in order for her husband to catch them and for her to finally be free. Things though haven’t been easy for either. Julia though …

This Review Has Spoilers to this book- beware!
I was very engaged with this book, and enjoyed it greatly, although I did have a few “problems” with the main hero at the start, I felt he redeemed himself nicely. But there were a few loose ends that I could not figure out even as I looked at it from different angles. So this will not be much of a review but an examination of the Duke’s Captive, and a few loose ends and questions it raised for me that I could just not figure out in the end.

The leads were the true bread and butter of the book, Ian Wentworth was held captive for five long weeks and remembers little of what happen, but this event has haunted him and scarred him deeply, his last act to finally rid himself of his nightmare past is to finally bring to justice Viola Bennington-Jones, whom he knows was somehow involved with his imprisonment. But as he seeks vengeance, he finds out there’s more behind his cap…

Like a roller coaster ride, I Dream of Genies by Judi Fennell was just that, a fun ride, with twists and turns, with huge dips and a fast pace that had the reader laughing through the whole bright and colorful story, with shades to another great genie- I Dream of Jennie!

Eden has been stuck in her bottle for the past thousands of years for an accident/crime against her then master. She dreams of finally being free, and once she is -she will not looking back! Until fate sets her free and as she falls right into the lap of her dream man!
Matt Ewing is having a bad day, a day month and a bad year! He’s company is suffering from the recent rescission and his only trusted worker is not getting the job done, between a rock and a hard place, Matt is shocked when a woman in a harem outfit falls right into his lap! More surprises are in store for Matt when, he brings her home, only to be told she’s a genie with a bad villain …

Lord Lightning by Jenny Brown became one of those rare books, that after finishing it, I quickly re-read it again, in hopes of unraveling more of the story. While not complex, the story was rich and deep with characters that slowly unravel themselves before the reader’s eyes. They have layers and masks they wear in order to hide themselves away from the hurts they suffered in the world. I became so engrossed with the story that at times it was hard to walk away without wanting to run back and read just one more page…The story greatly reminded me of the old trads romance (with a little bit steam) where everyone isn’t in shades of black and white but in grays.

Eliza Farrell is blessed and cursed with being able to read the future of someone through the stars. As an astrologer, this gift taught to her by her aunt, is her means of survival when her father shows up once again in her and takes all her money and with a flip of…

Before I started to read or even picked up Wedding of the Season, I was already carrying two strikes against it. Strike One!: Since reading LLG’s And Then He Kissed Her and His Every Kiss, I haven’t felt drawn to any of her recent works, putting them aside to pick up something else. Never truly feeling the magic I felt with those two novels. Strike Two!: While I enjoy those second-chance/reunion romance stories, many of the recent works fall onto the cliché BIG MISUNDERSTANDING that broke the relationship apart or having someone drive the lovers apart etc etc. This got old quickly for me that I tend to stay away from said type novels. Wedding of the Season never made it to Strike Three for me, instead hit it out of the park with such a great storyline, with understandable characters and how their able to build back their love when given a second chance.

When it comes to new authors that I pick up to read, I always think of their book as a dish I’ve never tasted before, and this mentality has served me well as I’m rarely disappointed and it’s always nice to have a few recommendations/reviews when trying something new. Grace Burrowes’s The Heir was a yummy debt that was light with a smokin’ hot kick that left me asking for “Seconds Please!”

Gayle Windham, Earl of Westhaven is at the end of his rope- pretty much. Not only is he having to deal with his father a Duke nosing around his fatherly nose where it doesn’t belong and not wanted in a man’s life, but trying to force the issue of an unwanted marriage on his heir. Not to mention the mess Gayle is having to fix the mismanagement by his father and the estates, and taking care of his family…. and finally when having a moments rest, he’s hit over the head by his new housekeeper! But that hit and his new housekeeper may be the answer …